5 Card Stud Poker

How to Play 5 Card Stud Poker

This section will inform you on gaming procedures, rules, policies and limits of PlayNow.com
Poker's game of Five Card Stud.

is abbreviation for Rules.

Dealing the Game of Five Card Stud

Before the Deal:

Players will buy-in for the posted amount.

Players will place an ante into the pot. Your ante will be placed into the pot by default.
You may turn off this feature under the settings menu in the game.

Opening Deal:

The dealer always deals first to the player closest to the dealer's left and, moving clockwise
around the table, will "deal-in" each player. The players will be dealt one card face down and
then a second card known as the "door card" will be dealt face up. A round of betting will occur
starting with the player with the lowest card by value and suit. This is known as the "force" or
"bring-in" bet.

The player with the lowest card value (ace being high) will be the force. In the event that two
or more players hold door cards of the same rank, then the lowest suit will make the
determination. Suits are ranked, from lowest to highest alphabetically, spades, hearts,
diamonds, clubs (i.e., the two of clubs is the lowest possible card). This is the only time
suits will play a role in the game.

Third Card (Third Street):

The next card to be dealt into the game will be the third card the players will receive in their
hand. This is called "Third street." The dealer will burn one card off the top of the deck and
then always deals to the player closest to the dealer's left and, moving clockwise around the
table, will deal each player one card face up. A round of betting will occur starting with the
player with the highest two-card value. This is known as "having the action".

The player having the best hand on the board "has the action" and may make the initial bet of the
round or check to the next player. If there is a tie between players as to the best hand, then
the player closest to the dealer's left will have the action.

In fixed limit stud, if any player displays an open pair on third street, that player may bet the
higher amount of the game limit (normally not available until fourth street).

If the player with the action chooses to make the lower limit bet, any other player still in the
hand may choose to make either the lower limit or higher limit raise. Once any player has made
the higher limit bet, all further bets and raises must be made at the higher level.

Betting in Five Card Stud

If you choose not to bet, then you are said to "check," or pass on the option to bet to the
next player.

If a player bets, you may "call" the bet, "raise" or "fold".

If a player checks and another player makes a bet, the player who checked may in turn raise
the bet made by the other player. This is called a "check & raise".

Fourth Card (Fourth Street):

The next card to be dealt into the game will be the fourth card the players will receive in their
hand. This is called "Fourth street." The dealer will burn one card off the top of the deck and
then always deal to the player closest to the dealer's left and, moving clockwise around the
table will deal each player one card face up. A round of betting will occur starting with the
player with the highest three-card value. Starting with fourth street, and continuing through
all further streets, all bets and raises in fixed limit games are made at the higher limit.

Fifth Card (Fifth Street):

The next card to be dealt into the game will be the fifth and final card the players will receive
in their hand. This is called "Fifth street". The dealer will burn one card off the top of the
deck and then always deal to the player closest to the dealer's left and, moving clockwise
around the table will deal each player one card face up. A round of betting will occur starting
with the player with the highest four-card value. On Fifth street, all bets and raises in fixed
limit games are made at the higher limit.

Who shows first?

In a live game, generally players who feel that they have a good opportunity to win a pot will
show their hand voluntarily. However, in many instances, players all stare at each other
wondering who will show their cards first. To avoid this situation, the game employs the
following standard rule:

The determination of which players' cards will and must be shown first will lie with the player
who had initiated the last bet, raise or re-raise.

This simply means that whoever created the last action on the Fifth street must show his cards
first. If the player who had the action checked and all players checked, then the player who had
the initial option to bet would show first. If a player checks and another player bets, then the
player who bet will have his/her cards shown first. If a player checks, another bets and then
another player raises, the raiser's cards will be shown first.

Suppose a Player wins by default. Is the hand required to be shown?

Players that have won a pot do not have to show their cards if they were not called.

This means that if two or more players were playing and one player bets and the other player(s)
fold, the player who has won the pot by default will not under any circumstances have their
cards shown automatically. The winning players may choose to "show" or "don't show".

Do Players have to show their cards if they call a bet or a check on fifth street?

Players are required to show their cards if and only if they are the player who created the last
action by betting or raising.

Please note: Players may set their play to "Muck Losing Hands" in the Menu>Settings. Muck Losing
Hands - checked - will mean that any losing hand will automatically muck. Muck Losing
Hands - unchecked - will mean that the player will be presented with the choice to muck or show
when applicable.

Who wins?

In the PlayNow.com poker room, "cards speak." That means the dealer will find the best 5-card
hand on the table and declare it the winner based on the universal poker hand rankings.

It is theoretically possible that two or more players can hold the best five-card hand. If there
is a tie between two or more players, then the dealer will "split" the pot equally between all
the winning players.

Five Card Stud Notable Rules

"Fixed Limit Games"

Most commonly called "fixed" limit games, this type of game limit structure is by far the most
common betting structure you will find. A fixed limit game is one in which each bet will remain
consistent through several betting rounds and then change at some predetermined point in later
rounds. All bets will remain equal to the posted table limit. For example, in a $5-10 Five-Card
Stud game, the bets will be as follows.

In the early betting rounds, a bet and any raises must be exactly $5. In later betting rounds,
such as the last round, a bet and any raises must be exactly $10.

How do you bet & raise in a fixed limit game?

Each bet in every betting round will be in strict compliance with a structured game.

If you choose not to bet, then you are said to "check," or pass on the option to bet to the
next player.

If a player bets, you may "call" the bet or "fold."

If a player checks and another player makes a bet, the player who checked may then in turn
raise the bet made by the other player. This is called a "check & raise."

How many raises will be allowed?

The general poker rule is a "cap" of three raises allowed per betting round with three or more
players. However, if there is a "heads up" situation whereby only two players remain in the
game, then raises are unlimited.

The opening round will be a force wager determined by the game limit. The player with the
lowest "door card" is forced to wager the minimum or "complete" it to the lower limit of the
game. This is not a raise in the traditional sense. The player is only "bringing up" the bet
to its normal minimum.

Third Street: The bet shall be the lower limit and all raises will be in the same increments
only.

However, an exception occurs on Third Street when there is an open pair on the table. Any player
may bet or raise the lower or higher limit of the game. This is called the "Third Street
Rule."

Fourth Street: The bet shall be the higher limit and all raises will be the same increments
only.

Fifth Street: The bet shall be the higher limit and all raises will be the same increments
only.

Safe & Secure

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